Bonds hits 60th, Giants within 1½ of D-Backs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds doesn't think he's going to have too many more chances to hit home runs. The pennant race is just too tight.

Bonds hit his 60th home run, becoming just the fifth player to reach the milestone, and the San Francisco Giants narrowed the gap in the NL West with a 9-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

"Right now every pitch, every at-bat, every inning is crucial," he said. "The good news is, we're close enough. Wish there were more games, but we got to do it on our own and not go into a serious slump."

Arizona's lead in the NL West was squeezed to 1½ games as the Giants took two of three games in the final series of the season between the teams. The Giants also moved into a tie with idle Chicago for the NL wild-card race.

So from here on out, Bonds expects he won't see that many hittable pitches.

"This is a pennant race now," Bonds said. "There's not going to be that many chances now."

Through   141 Games:  Projected   Total: 60 69

Through   141 Games:  Season   Total: 59 70

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Bonds joined Babe Ruth (60 in 1927), Roger Maris (61 in 1961), Mark McGwire (70 in 1998; 65 in 1999) and Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998; 63 in 1999) in the 60-homer club.

"To be in that class is pretty amazing," Bonds said after the game with his 2-year-old daughter, Aisha, sitting on his lap.

Bonds homered off Albie Lopez (3-5) in the second inning, with the sellout Pacific Bell Park crowd roaring as the solo shot cleared the right-field wall.

"That one was nice. My heart was just racing as I rounded the bases," he said.

Bonds hit his 60th in the Giants' 141st game, reaching the mark faster than the other four sluggers. McGwire, the previous fastest to 60, needed 142 games in 1998, the year he set the record with 70.

"At first I thought, `Hey, it's just one more run.' But then I thought about it being No. 60," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "I'm extremely happy for him and I hope he keeps rolling."

The Giants, who have won four of their last six games, also got a solo home run and a two-run single from Rich Aurilia, as well as two-run singles from John Vander Wal and Ramon Martinez.

Aaron Fultz (3-1), who relieved starter Ryan Jensen, allowed a hit and struck out three in 1 2-3 innings for the victory.

The Diamondbacks took a 2-0 lead in the first on Reggie Sanders' RBI triple and Steve Finley's single.

The Giants came right back in the bottom half. With one out, Aurilia singled to left and Bonds walked. An out later, Andres Galarraga singled to load the bases, and Vander Wal singled to left to tie it.

Benito Santiago walked to reload the bases, and Martinez singled to drive in two more runs and draw a standing ovation.

It was nothing compared to the clamor when Bonds hit his 60th in the next inning. Bonds high-fived Jeff Kent after rounding the bases then was called out of the dugout for a curtain call to shouts of "Barry! Barry!" from the 41,155 fans.

Bonds now has 554 career homers, nine behind Reggie Jackson for seventh place on the career list.

Finley made it 5-3 with an RBI triple in the third inning, but Aurilia hit a two-run single and Galarraga added an RBI double in the sixth to extend the Giants' lead to 8-3.

Aurilia added a solo home run into the left-field bleachers in the eighth. It was the Giants' 200th home run this season.

Aurilia was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, giving him nine homers and 19 RBI against Arizona this season.

"We're all glad not to see Rich Aurilia anymore," Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez said. "You can talk about Barry Bonds and the year he's having, but this guy has single-handedly put us away. He's got like 30 homers and almost a third have been against us. He's been a one-man wrecking crew against our ballclub."

Former Giants slugger Matt Williams completed the scoring for Arizona in the ninth with a two-run, two-out homer off Robb Nen.

Lopez allowed five runs on six hits over three innings.

Game notes
Vander Wal was robbed of what at appeared to be an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning when it was ruled that a fan interfered with Finley's effort to catch the deep fly ball to center. ... Mike Koplove made his major league debut for Arizona in the sixth inning. He gave up a single to Kent, the first batter he faced, then Galarraga's RBI double. ... Arizona's Craig Counsell extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the fourth. ... Martinez is 3-for-3 with six RBI with the bases loaded this season.